Disco the Talking Parakeet - Pets Wild at Heart
Transcript
00:00 (whistles)
00:01 Yeah, come on over. Come on out.
00:03 Having captured his owner's attention, he can practice another skill.
00:07 It's not easy being green.
00:10 It's not easy being green. It's not easy being green.
00:15 Mimicry isn't as unnatural as it seems.
00:18 Wild parakeets mimic each other, and each family learns their own distinct calls.
00:24 Never shake a baby bird. That would surely be absurd.
00:28 Never shake a baby bird. That would surely be absurd.
00:32 This budgie is just doing what he would do in the flock.
00:36 (whistles)
00:38 That a parakeet? What is it?
00:40 A three-and-a-half-bird that talks? That's not important right now.
00:44 Even having a name may not be as unnatural as it seems.
00:48 I'm Disco, and I know it. I'm Disco, and I know it.
00:54 Are you not a crook? My name is Disco.
00:58 Wild parrots have been shown to assign special calls to name their offspring,
01:02 just as we name our own pet budgies.
01:05 Baby bird. Disco baby bird. Cute big bird.
01:09 In turn, young parrots learn these names and use them to introduce themselves.
01:16 Are you not a crook? My name is Disco.
01:20 This extraordinary ability may mean that Disco has a sense of his own identity.
01:25 It certainly seems so at times.
01:28 Disco baby.
01:31 Talking is now a game, a way to express wild behavior in the confines of his home.
01:36 (whistles)
01:39 A cat. Meow. Meow. (kissing)
01:42 Give me a kiss. (kissing)
01:44 A kitty cat has cheeseburger.
01:47 Are you a little stork or a story trooper?
01:50 Disco, I used to be a spy. Not a parakeet.
01:54 I'm a doctor, not a parakeet.
01:57 I did it! I'm a doctor.
01:59 (laughing)
02:01 Disco has memorized over 130 phrases in all.
02:05 (kissing)
02:07 Maytage is bigger the inside. Maytage bigger the inside.